Are you looking for a PhD position where you can use your mathematical skills to improve how we make decisions, arrive at compromises, and aggregate information in a group? Are you excited about doing this kind of research in an interdisciplinary environment, in a team with smart and friendly colleagues? And are you interested in an academic career in Artificial Intelligence?

Then you may want to join us. We are looking for a PhD candidate in the field of computational social choice to join us in the COMSOC Group at the Institute for Logic. Language and Computation (ILLC) in Amsterdam.

The research agenda of our group is dedicated to the design and analysis of methods for collective decision making. The research we do is both mathematical and conceptual in nature. We regularly publish in the leading conference proceedings and journals in AI, and we also emphasise interdisciplinarity and often reach out to other fields, notably Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy. Relevant keywords include decision theory, game theory, social choice theory, Al, multiagent systems, and knowledge representation.

This fully funded PhD position is part of the Collective Information Project, which will eventually employ a total of five junior researchers. It is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under the VICI scheme.

What are you going to do?

You will be expected to contribute to the broad research agenda of the COMSOC Group.

Specific tasks include:

• to complete and defend a PhD thesis within the official appointment duration of four years;
• to regularly present research results at international workshops and conferences, and to publish them in conference proceedings and journals;
• to participate in and to contribute to the organisation of research activities and events at the institute, such as workshops and colloquia.

You also will be expected to make a small contribution to the ILLC' s educational mission, by working as a teaching assistant for courses in your area of expertise and by assisting with the supervision of student research projects.

You should hold, or expect to obtain before the start of your appointment, a Master's degree in a relevant discipline, such as Computer Science, AI, Mathematics, Logic, or Economics.

You also should possess:

• an excellent academic track record;
• a serious interest in pursuing fundamental research of an interdisciplinary nature;
• good writing and presentation skills;
• good social and organisational skills;
• full professional proficiency in spoken and written English.

Prior exposure to relevant topics at the interface of Economics and Computer Science, particularly computational social choice and algorithmic game theory, is an advantage, but certainly not a requirement. The same holds for relevant topics in AI, particularly multiagent systems and knowledge representation.

Please note that knowledge of the Dutch language is not required for this position, nor is it required for being able to live in Amsterdam. However, PhD candidates at the ILLC have the opportunity to attend Dutch language classes if they wish.

You must be able to start between 1 September and 1 November 2020.

Fixed-term contract: 18 months.

A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (initial appointment will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years) and should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students. 

The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, will be €2,325 to €2,972 (scale P) gross per month, based on full-time employment (38 hours a week). These amounts are exclusive 8 % holiday allowance and 8,3 end-of-year bonus. A favorable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Then find out more about working at the Faculty of Science.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Science – Institute for Logic, Language and Computation

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 6,500, as well as 1,600 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

The Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) is an interdisciplinary research institute, shared between the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Humanities, where logicians, mathematicians, computer scientists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers collaborate. ILLC an international research environment with world-class faculty in all of its areas of ecialisation, including several areas of specialisation within AI.

We are based in the beautiful city of Amsterdam, renowned for its historic system of canals, its laid-back cosmopolitan atmosphere, and its excellent connections to the rest of Europe and the world.